Needless to say that a great attraction toward .al domains is the “domain-hacks” or the ability to create a word with the .al ending. In the last years we have seen a larg number of similar domain hacks, where the number one are the turkish words, but a lot of attention has been toward english words as well.

Due to continous pressure to the Registry, a proposal to change the regulation in favor of 2 letter domains has been pushed for consultation and in a few days there will be a decision.

This means that there might be a chance to register 2 letter .al domains soon! We will inform our customers as soon as we can to let them benefit from this change.

Some more on .al domain hacks can be found at: http://norm.al/2011/12/30/al-domain-hacks/

We’re pleased to announce that we are now accepting Bitcoin payment methods on Host.al. Bitcoin is a peer to peer decentralized currency that enables instant payments to anyone anywhere in the world. Bitcoin has no central authority, so managing transactions and issuing money are carried out collectively by the P2P network. It was hugely demanded nowadays, so we’re happy to announce that it’s ready.

The currency can be used to register any of our more than 50 domain extensions. Please have a check on the new offers for domain extensions and the competitive prices that we have.

The .al Domain Reseller Program allows established ventures to integrate Albanian domain registration services seamlessly into their existing websites and services.

This program is for those looking for the best prices, best service from a .al Domain Registrar. Host.al has a range of solutions including a Web-based Reseller Interface and an API/template system to make it a snap for you to get started.

We support WHMCS and BoxBilling, let us know if you are using any of the two and we will provide you with the full API. Even if you use another domain-registration software, in a matter of minutes, you can easily integrate private-labelled real-time domain name registration services right into your own Web site!API Introduction
The Domains Reseller API allows you to interact with our system programmatically from your own WHMCS or solution of choice.
Using the API you are able to perform actions such as:
• Register Domain
• Transfer Domain
• Renew Domain
• Modify Contact Details
• Get/Modify Nameservers

As one might notice, the Registry has the most of the registrations while serving as a registry and a registrar (something we hope to change soon so the service to the customers can also improve). Considering that the registry has been active since 1998 and that the Registrar have been granted the status only on July last year, the numbers are to be expected to shift in favor of the Registrars. The role of the registry should be limited to the regulations and other monitoring activity and it is expected that in the future the registry will resign from registrar operations.

You can find some numbers around in the Registrar’s websites and claims like 60% of marketshare for .al(!?) Well all the registrars together barely cover 55% of the registrarions. And if we would like to calculate the market share without the Registry, than there is only one registrar over 63% (as one might reasonable expect).

It is interesting to notice that AlbTelecom, the National Telecommunication Operator has entered the Domain Registrar Market and has only a limited number of domains. This might have been an internal move to protect some of their domains as well.

Here at Host.al, we are thankful to all our clients who chose us as their registrar. We cover quite a good marketshare thanks to our clients and the reseller companies which work with us.

* Numbers presented are not official. Have been calculated by interviews and statistics on the websites of registrars. There is a margin of 4-5% error.

Many individuals tend to use the same password for all of their login points. In the event that a malicious users gains access to one login of you or your staff, they could potentially gain access to all other login-required sites like your access to our Client Area which can lead them to your website.

Two-Factor Authentication puts a stop to this by requiring users who successfully login in with a user & password combination to use a physical device you possess for further verification.

Please do let us know if you have any questions or concerns about this.

Unfortunately up to the moment we are writing this blog, there is no official whois from the registry. The service has never been activated for privacy concerns. We have been informed that this will be activated in the future, but this will take some time.

At the mean time, at Host.al we provide a public interface for all our clients. The .al whois provides information on the contact of our clients and basic information for domains registered at other registrars.

Considering that the .al zone has only a few thousand domains, a navigation to all domains can be done via this URL